March 24, 2016
Hitachi and Honda Successfully Develop Prototype of Portable Breath-based Alcohol Detection Device for Vehicle Smart Keys
Hitachi, Ltd. and Honda Motor Co., Ltd.'s subsidiary Honda R&D Co., Ltd. announced they have successfully developed a prototype of a portable alcohol detector that is tamper-resistant as it can distinguish human breath from alternative gases and that can be integrated into smart key. This device is capable of distinctively detecting the saturated water vapor from human breath and accurately measuring alcohol level within 3 seconds once a driver exhales breath onto the device. Hitachi and Honda jointly collaborated on this technology development in an effort to create the ideal alcohol detector.
They also developed a system that can show the alcohol level measured by the detector on the vehicle's display panel. It can become an ignition interlock to stop a vehicle starting its engine when it detects a driver under the influence of alcohol.
Prototype of portable breath-based alcohol detection device
